Dubliners might have been forgiven for thinking they were dreaming this morning when they were met with the sight of a fully clothed man floating down the River Liffey.
Footage of the impeccably suited middle-aged man lying on his back while paddling serenely in the slimy city-centre waterway have been causing a storm on Twitter, with speculation rife as to the reason for the 7am stunt.
What appears to be a support boat follows around 25m behind the backstroking drifter, who doesn't appear to have a care in the world, despite being immersed in the no-doubt very cold - not to mention less than clean - Liffey waters.
Twitter user Mark Malone posted videos of the curious sight between O'Connell Bridge and the Ha'penny Bridge this morning, leading to hundreds of speculative comments from bemused - and some worried - Dubs.
Several were insistent that it was an art instillation, with others suggested it was being shot as part of a music video, citing a lyric from Radiohead tune How To Disappear Completely that says "I float down the Liffey".
Today is World Suicide Prevention Day, which led many to surmise that the eye-catching early morning stunt may have been to raise awareness.
One tweet pondered whether the man was trying to demonstrate how to survive if you get into difficulty in deep water, saying it "could be to show how floating in deep water works".
They added: "If more people knew how to, it could save many lives."
The videos caught the eye of Rubberbandits star and prolific Twitter user Blindboy Boatclub, who said he was almost certain the man was a performance artist who had taught him in college.
And it would appear that Blindboy was almost right. A piece of performance art has been commissioned by Dublin City Council for the upcoming Culture Night on September 18.
The piece, called On In-Between, sees visual artist Paul Regan "floating in the drink; feet first towards the bay, the voluntarily procession away from the city to lead me to where… I remember that summer in Dublin, and the Liffey as it stank like hell".
He explains it in layman's terms too, saying: "The in-between, drifting and separated; not on north and south sides but of being of the land and in the place where one should not be; the divide — the open artery of evasion. I swam here in my sleep states when the river was clear."
Yes... quite clear Paul.
So there you have it - mystery solved. You can find out more about more about the 15th edition of Dublin City's Culture Night here.
